


Infinitesimal

by kireiflora



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Blood, Fantasy, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Marriage, based on a lot of dnd and how it works, bigbangonice2018, but he gets better cause its fantasy/dnd so reviving is a thing, dragon - Freeform, just a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 15:32:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13684548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kireiflora/pseuds/kireiflora
Summary: They were nobodies, not well known adventurers or anything, they only just met one of them, but still, somehow, they managed to save the day.





	Infinitesimal

“Yuuri!” Phichit called, waving as he hurried over. “Yuuri!”

Yuuri blinked slightly, “What is it Phichit?”

Phichit caught up to him and spun him around in a hug. “You won’t believe this!”

Yuuri chuckled slightly, “We won’t know until you tell me.”

He nodded slightly, “Okay-okay so have I told you about silver hair guy yet?”

He looked up as he tried to recall, “Not in depth…” he shrugged slightly.

“Okay so like, he’s so beautiful, and like, I just found out, he’s a rogue! I’m not sure how good at sneaking he is, being so bright-haired, but, I trust him.” he nodded determinedly.

Yuuri blinked a bit and smiled, “Well maybe he hides the hair when he’s not in a bar.”

“Maaaybe…” he hummed, “I want you to meet him though! I think you’d get along!”

Yuuri blinked in surprise, “We don’t even live in the same city Phichit.”

He waved his hand dismissively, “That’s no excuse, we don’t either and we’re best friends.”

Yuuri hummed slightly, “You have a point there...I guess I’ll go with you next time you go. What’s the worst that could happen?”

\-----

This, this was the worst that could happen. Yuuri was pretty sure as he clutched his bow tightly, looking around and trying to make sense of the situation.

How exactly had they ended up talked into this situation?

\-----

Victor urged Makkachin into the room before anyone got too good a look at her. “Now stay in here until I come up here okay?”

She whined softly, sitting down on the floor.

“Don’t whine at me! You know people would freak out if they saw you.”

She huffed, jumping up onto the only bed and curling up.

Victor nodded slightly, yeah, that was fair. “I’ll see you in a bit.” he said as he quickly hurried out to go down to the bar of the inn for some food he desperately needed.

It didn’t really help that his meager coin was also being spent to feed the dog up in his room.

He looked over at the stage where the half-elven bard was getting seated and ready to play his harp. He’d been seeing him around the different inns lately, playing different instruments.

He glanced around, seeing if there was anyone that looked ready to cause trouble as he got his food.

His attention was caught by a dark haired elf that was also watching the bard, a bow on his back. He was sitting by the wall, not calling any attention to himself but something about him got his attention.

His eyes were instantly drawn to the bard however, when he started playing.

A harp wasn’t something you heard often in a bar, but, as he had seen the last few days, the room quieted as he started, lights seeming to hover around him.

\-----

Once Phichit was done he hurried over to Yuuri. “Did you like it?”

“I always do.” he smiled, “You command attention every time you play.”

“Aw thanks Yuuri!” he hugged him tightly and pulled back with a smirk. “Guess who’s here tonight, and couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

He went bright red. “P-Phichit you didn’t say you were trying to get me a date!”

“I’m not!” he shook his head, “Or-I wasn’t, but then he saw you and…” he shrugged.

“Phichit,” he opened and closed his mouth a few times before he sighed, “Just...introduce us.”

“I knew you would see it my way.” Phichit quickly started dragging him off towards a silver haired man at the bar. “Victor!” he called.

The man looked over in slight confusion. “Yes?”

“This is my friend Yuuri!” he said, pushing him in front of himself.

“Oh-I’m Victor, its nice to meet you.” he held out his hand.

Yuuri took it. “Its nice to meet you too, Phichit’s told me…” he paused, “A fair bit about you.”

He smiled, pushing his hair out of his eyes, “Maybe I should tell you about some of the things he’s gotten into.”

“Victor!” Phichit whined, stepping between them.

Both of them laughed, “But Phichit, how else will we bond?” Yuuri pouted at him.

Hand placed to his heart as he stumbled back, he gasped “Betrayal!”

Yuuri slung an arm over his shoulders pulling him back. “Oh? I thought this was what you wanted?”

“Maybe so.” he sighed, throwing an arm over his eyes. “But not like this!”

Victor blinked and laughed, “You’re an odd pair.”

“Oh? And what about your...pet?”

Victor swallowed, “What about her?”

“I don’t know, except you try to hide her too much for a simple pet.” Phichit smirked.

“Pet?” Yuuri tilted his head, “Can we meet her?”

“I...uh…” Victor glanced away from those wide pleading brown eyes. “...only if you promise not to tell anyone.”

“You bet!” Yuuri piped up, “I’d never do anything like that.”

“Okay…” he stood up, gesturing for them to follow him.

\-----

“Ooo what is she?” Phichit, resisted the urge to poke it.

“She’s a blink-dog.” Victor said, “She can teleport around, and she’s just about as smart as us.” he rubbed her head. “I found her a few weeks ago, isn’t she beautiful?”

“She is!” Yuuri nodded, “Super cool too!”

She preened under the attention, stretching out across the bed.

“So she’s not...exactly a pet because of that. A bit more of a companion.”

\-----

“I was thinking…”

Phichit looked over at th elf. “Thinking of what?”

“I want to take Victor home.” Yuuri said as he drew in the dirt with a finger.

“You do?” Phichit’s voice trembled a bit with barely concealed excitement.

He nodded, looking up at him. “Does it...sound like a good idea?”

“Yeah! He’ll love it!” Phichit hopped up. “I’ll go find him some nice clothes!” he hurried off before Yuuri could react.

He laughed a bit and pushed himself up, before going off to find Victor.

\-----

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Don’t worry so much Victor, we’re both here with you, nobody will mind.”

“But…”

“Uh-uh, Yuuri wants to show you his home so stop complaining.” Phichit shook his finger in front of his face.

He blushed lightly and nodded. “Okay...thank you.”

Phichit brightened, “Of course! I can’t wait to get there and show you around.”

Yuuri turned to smile at them. “I hope you like it Victor...I think you will.”

He smiled softly back, “I’m sure I will.”

\-----

Victor looked around as they passed through some trees and the world opened up to the elven kingdom. High above the canopy was still in tact, hiding the elves from the air, trees dotted here and there to help keep it in tact but still open and easy to walk around.

There were wooden houses all around the ground, a couple up in the bigger trees connected by bridges. He barely spotted a couple of stone buildings as he followed Yuuri around.

Phichit had quieted down a bit as they entered, keeping his eyes on Yuuri as he eagerly led them around. Not that Phichit didn’t already know this place, but he was happy to see Yuuri so ecstatic. He took a couple quick steps to catch up and tap him on the shoulder.

Yuuri cut himself off mid sentence and blinked at him in surprise before he smiled and nodded and Phichit veered off into the trees.

Victor just barely stopped himself from asking where he was going, stepping up next to Yuuri as he continued showing him around.

Yuuri eventually slowed down, causing Victor to look over at him worriedly.

“And uh…” he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “This is my home.”

Victor blinked in surprise and turned his attention to the house in front of him. It was slightly bigger than the normal house he’d seen, with a tiny pond off to one side by the front. There was one window he could see with some plants growing outside it. He took a few steps towards the pond, trying to see down into it. He saw some big fish with striking patterns.

Yuuri smiled a bit, watching him look around for a moment before going over and opening his door and stepping in. He sighed softly, entering his home always gave him a sense of relief. He never felt as safe anywhere else. He looked around while Victor was distracted, but luckily he’d left it tidy the last time he was here.

Nervously he moved towards his bookshelf and started straightening it.

“What are those fish called?” Victor asked as he hesitantly stepped in. If Yuuri didn’t want him in he would’ve closed the door right?

“They’re koi. I rather like them.” Yuuri smiled as he turned to face him. “So what do you think of all this?”

Victor paused slightly. “Its nice...not really my kind of thing, but nice.” he smiled, “Of course I didn’t grow up around these kinds of things, maybe I’d love it half as much as you if I did.”

Yuuri blushed, “I-I don’t-”

“I haven’t seen you so excited about something yet, I like watching you talk about something you love so much.” Victor replied with a smile, taking his hand gently.

Blushing more, he nodded, “I do really like it here…” he smiled, “I haven’t traveled a ton, but I just don’t feel the need to when I’m happy here.”

He nodded back, “No problem with that, but I’m glad you have traveled some.”

“You can thank Phichit.” he laughed, “He stuck to me like a burr, and I wanted to spend time with him as he went around and played his music. He knows so many different kinds, I really do love hearing as many different things as he can do.”

“I noticed he changed it even just depending on the bar.”

He nodded, “He like to play things that fit the mood or theme of the place he is. So to hear everything he can play you’d have to go just about everywhere. I actually really love that about him.”

“Its what drew me to him as well.” Victor admitted, “So it’s thanks to that we met.”

Yuuri smiled, “I’m glad he does that then.”

\-----

Phichit peeked around the corner with a grin, spying the blond haired elf he had been looking for. He reached back to his instruments debating which would be the best option. He pulled out his drum with a hum, tapping it feather light to not cause any sound while he debated.

After a few seconds he nodded to himself, it was a fit.

He hummed softly as he started playing quietly, trying not to annoy any of the other elves. Nodding along to the beat as it picked up while he waited. He really did like the drum, something about it was just so soothing.

He picked up the sound of footsteps and smiled a bit as he continued playing, carefully controlling the volume. He really wasn’t in the mood to get yelled at again.

“Hey there Phichit.”

He smiled up at the blond. “Hi Christophe.”

“I thought you were going far and wide?” he smiled at him, “What are you doing back so soon?”

“Have I told you about Victor? Yuuri decided he wanted to bring him here and show him around.” he grinned, putting the drum away.

“You haven’t, tell me about this Victor.” Chris sat down against the wall to listen.

Phichit slid down next to him with a grin. “They’re perfect for each other honestly, they go off in their own little world. I don’t think they’ve realized it yet though.”

He laughed, “I said about Victor, not about your match making.”

Blushing, he nodded, “Okay so he’s this human rogue, and get this, he’s befriended a blink dog.”

“A blink dog? Really?”

“Yeah! We didn’t bring it in here, but it’ll be careful not too far away.”

“Aw, I almost wish I could’ve seen it.” he paused, “So you’ve paired him up with a human? Even though he’ll outlive him?”

“Yeah I know...I just meant for them to be friends but its obvious its going to go further than that…” he fidgeted with his pack.

“Well in that case, just let them figure it out on their own okay?” he poked his forehead. “And do something for yourself.”

Phichit laughed, “I’m here with you aren’t I?” he poked his cheek back.

He squinted at him but nodded, “I suppose so, but you might just be giving them time alone to get closer.”

“Maaaybe a little, but I mostly wanted to see you.”

“Are you guys going to stick around long?”

“Probably not, we want to explore around a lot.” he smiled a bit.

“So long as you have fun.” he smiled back. “And don’t get hurt, let that blink dog take the hits.”

“Hey! Just ‘cause I’m half-elf doesn’t mean I can’t handle myself in a fight.” he huffed.

Chris laughed and rolled his eyes, “Idiot.”

\-----

Victor smiled as Yuuri turned around. “So...I think we should go find Phichit now...that’s really all there is.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Sorry…”

“No its fine! I just enjoy seeing you here at home.” he smiled.

“I just don’t want anyone to get mad. It’s not against the rules, but we still aren’t supposed to bring many humans here.” he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.

“Oh...I’m sorry.” he looked down, having got caught up in all the excitement of seeing the elves home, Yuuri’s home, that he forgot.

“No no-I wanted to show you! It was all my decision.” Yuuri said quickly, trying to make him feel better again. This was supposed to be a happy time not an upsetting time for him.

He smiled a bit, “I’ve had a wonderful time, really. But I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it, nothing bad will happen.” Yuuri said with a smile.

“Okay okay, you’ve swayed me.” he smiled, dusting his pants off. “Lets go find us a bard. Any ideas?”

“A few, I know he likes to hang out with Christophe.” Yuuri hummed slightly, opening his door and leading him out, stopping to feed his koi.

“Christophe?”

“A blond elf.” he smiled a bit. “We’ll split up to find them.” he took his hand and pulled him along the path. “Okay, I’ll check inside buildings and you check around out here okay?”

Victor nodded, starting to pull away to look.

Yuuri leaned forward and kissed him impulsively. Then froze eyes wide.

“Y-Yuuri?” Victor blushed brightly.

“S-sorry!” he pulled away and rushed into the nearest building.

Victor held a hand to his lips, watching him rush off, stunned but smiling slightly.

He stood there for several minutes before shaking himself out of it and looking around.

\-----

Yuuri had found an empty room and locked himself inside it, hand covering hi mouth still, shaking.

He couldn’t believe he’d just done that to him, kissed him out of nowhere. Victor probably hated him now. He’d messed everything up, Victor would probably never look at him again and poor Phichit would be stuck between them.

His breath shook as he fought for air, eyes shut tightly. No no-Victor would let him explain. Would forgive him? Okay-no probably not but...maybe he’d be civil for Phichit’s sake.

His hands were shaking as he struggled to calm himself down.

Victor would never forgive him...there was no way.

He shook his head, trying to push that thought out of his head. The important thing was finding Phichit and getting Victor out of here before anyone got mad at them.

He took a shaky breath and let it back out, standing up straighter and swallowing. Okay, he needed to focus on the important things.

He opened the door and peaked out, not seeing anyone, and started going around and looking for Phichit finally.

\-----

Phichit blinked slightly, “Oh, there Victor is!” he smiled then frowned, “But where’s Yuuri?” he pushed himself up quickly. “Victor!” he called.

Victor turned and smiled, waving and jogging over.

“What are you doing out here without Yuuri?” he asked, confused.

“We split up to look for you.” he smiled a bit and waved at Chris. “You must be Christophe.”

“Call me Chris.” he stood up as well, standing a bit behind Phichit. “Phichit was telling me all about you and your blink dog.”

“Oh.” he blinked, “Thank...you?” he offered.

Chris laughed a bit.

“Well I’ll go off with him to go find Yuuri, it was nice to hang out again Chris.”

He nodded, “See you again sometime soon.” he smiled as the two walked off, talking and gesturing and looking around for Yuuri.

\-----

“So Yuuri’s hunting around inside? I haven’t seen him rushing around…” he frowned a bit, worried.

“Ah...well…” Victor blushed.

“Oh-something happened! Tell me!” Phichit spun in place, grabbing his arms and bouncing in place eagerly.

“He uh...might’ve...kissed me and ran off?” Victor was bright red as he looked away.

“I knew it!” Phichit jumped eagerly. “Oh I can’t wait! Let’s find Yuuri, he’s probably sitting somewhere worried about having offended you.” he took his hand and rushed off.

“Wha-really?” Victor called worriedly. “But I didn’t react badly or anything…”

“You don’t need to, he worry anyway.” Phichit sighed slightly, “It’s just how he is.

“Phichit!”

They came to a stop and turned to see Yuuri’s head poking out of a building a short distance away, waving at them.

“Good job Victor! You found him.” he called as he came over.

Phichit blinked a bit in confusion and glanced at Victor. Had he lied? It didn’t seem like it but normally Yuuri wouldn’t be like this after something like that…

“I’m relieved!” Yuuri continued, giving Phichit a hug and Victor a quick one. “Ready to go Phichit?”

“Yeah.” he smiled a bit. It seemed like Yuuri had talked himself out of it but was still distress at what he’d done. But that could wait until they were away from all the other elves.

Victor was just helplessly confused between what Phichit had said and how Yuuri was actually acting.

Yuuri was just relieved Victor wasn’t yelling at him.

\-----

“So have you heard the gossip around town?”

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” Yuuri said with a slight eye roll.

“Of course! Where’s Victor?” he looked around curiously.

“Finding food for Makkachin.” he yawned slightly, “It's so noisy here, I don’t know how you sleep.”

“Eh, I’m used to it.” Phichit shrugged, “I guess I’ll just tell him later.” he shifted closer. “Okay so people have been saying they’ve been seeing space just...shifting.”

Yuuri arched an eyebrow, “Are you sure its not just the heat?”

“No no, listen, and they swear they see things come out of it, that vanish when the space returns to normal.”

“Well that’s good at least.”

“Yeah sure, until someone is in the middle of it when whatever happens happens, who knows what might happen.”

“Phichit, are you sure this isn’t just some weird magic illusion?” Yuuri asked skeptically.

“I suppose that’s possible, but it seems like that would be a waste of time.”

“I suppose you’re right…” he hummed in thought.

“We should check it out!”

“Wha-no way! It’s too dangerous!”

“Yuuri, come on, it’ll be good, and maybe we’ll catch someone that’s causing terror and get a big reward!” Phichit smiled widely, gesturing.

“I dont need some big reward, I’m happy as is.” he shook his head.

“But Yuuri, you could afford a pet with a reward, or at least help feed Makkachin!”

Yuuri twitched slightly, “Phichit…” he whined, “Okay fine I’ll go along with you.”

Phichit grinned and hugged him. “Yay! Let’s go get Victor.” he started dragging him out down the street.

\-----

“You want to go check out some kind of weird magic stuff?” Victor asked incredulously.

“I got Yuuri to agree, you wouldn’t let us go off on our lonesome would you?” Phichit wheedled.

“Of course not.” Victor sighed a little, “I am getting bored of doing nothing, and it’s probably just some magician.”

“That’s our rogue!” Phichit grinned, pulling him up to his feet from the table. “Let’s get ready and go.”

Victor was nearly pulled over from the enthusiasm of the pull, and he tripped over Phichit’s leg.

“Oh come on Victor, you’re better than that.”

“Not when I’m being dragged.” he laughed slightly, catching himself. “I’ll go get Makkachin and head outside on the west side, meet me there.”

“Okay, Yuuri probably has all the supplies we need and then some by now.” he laughed a bit, “Take good care of her.”

“I think you like her more than me.” he pouted, crossing his arms.

“Well she is cute, but you’re great too.” Phichit winked.

\-----

“Phichit, if you play that song one more time, I am going to beg Makkachin to end you.” Yuuri snapped.

“So you won’t even kill me yourself?” Phichit pouted, “I thought I was worth more than that to you!”

“You were before you were driving me crazy with...whatever that song is!” he threw his hands into the air.

Victor pressed a hand against his mouth, trying not to laugh.

“Fine, what about…” Phichit put away his drum and pulled out his lute instead and started playing again.

He sighed a bit, hiding his face in his hands.

“Hey Yuuri, why don’t you look for a place to camp, its starting to get dark.” Victor offered him a way out.

The elf looked up at the sky and nodded slightly, grabbing his bow and holding it at the ready. “Don’t neither of you die while I’m gone.” he rolled his eyes slightly, before disappearing into the forest.

\-----

“Phichit, could you…” Yuuri gestured to all three of them.

“Oh-yeah sure.” he pulled his drum back out and tapped out a little rhythm, and the dust of the days travel vanished.

Victor blinked in only a little surprise, tending to the fire.

Yuuri cracked his knuckles as he relaxed. “I’ve needed to get out of the city.” he flopped backwards staring up at the stars.

“You don’t like staying anywhere too long Yuuri.”

“True enough.” he sat back up to set up the alarm spell before he forgot.

“So Victor, tell us about yourself.” Phichit leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“Eh? I’m just-”

“Uh-uh, nope. You’re not _just_ anything, you have a blink dog companion.”

“It’s not a super big story, she was hurt and I helped her and fed her, and she decided to stick around. She’s free to leave whenever she wants.” he looked up at the stars.

“You could make her hunt for herself but instead you pay to feed her. Don’t bother trying to hide that you’re fond of her.”

“Phichit leave the poor guy alone.” he sat back down.

\-----

Their...adventure wasn’t exactly planned out, they mostly just wondered around the forest for days. It was a pretty nice bonding experience for them, they fell into a nice routine as the days passed. Phichit played music softly while Yuuri and Victor chatted while they looked around for any signs of unusual things.

It was over a week later before they stumbled across something.

Something just so...innately _wrong_.

“Phichit...you didn’t slip anything into my drink did you?” Yuuri stared ahead.

“I see it too Yuuri.”

Victor swallowed nervously, he felt wrong just being near this thing...this...warp of space. It was similar to a heat mirage, except there were very clear edges to it. Almost like a sphere of super hot air.

“Guys…” Phichit started at the moment Makkachin started snarling.

That was all the warning they had before something burst...through? The warp in space. It looked like some kind of big cat, except it had two tentacles like a squid at its shoulders, with rows of short spikes at the end. And six legs.

It was Makkachin that leapt forward as the other three just stared in shock, she teleported right in its face and bit at it-only seemingly to bite right through it. She growled uneasily, looking around, ears flat against her skull.

Victor shook the shock off quickly, rushing up near her, eyes darting around as the beast ran around, sword held tightly in his hand.

Yuuri scrambled up into a tree and took aim with his bow as Phichit cast a burst of lights in front of its eyes. “Guys are you sure we can handle this thing?” Yuuri called anxiously.

“I doubt it’s going to just let us go!” Victor called back, slicing at it as it ran by to swipe at Makkachin.

Yuuri grunted in agreement and took a pair of shots at it, both missing. “Phichit could turn us invisible!”

Phichit chucked a rock at it, and it seemed to hit something in mid-air before falling to the ground.

Yuuri started in surprise, “Did everyone see that?”

Makkachin howled as a row of claw marks appeared on her flank, and she lashed out, seeming to connect with something.

A few feet away the beast got it’s own bloody marks.

Yuuri cursed as he took a couple shots to either side of where he actually saw the beast. He saw one stick in the air before it appeared on the beast.

“So, I was kind of right, weird illusion shit’s going on.” Phichit called out, casting a quick heal on Makkachin.

“Not the time!” Yuuri focused, touching the tree lightly and-stopped as he remembered Victor and Makkachin were right in the middle.

Victor closed his eyes, focusing on listening instead and lashed out with his sword, feeling the resistance as he connected with the beast.

Phichit cursed the spells he knew before drawing his sword and moving closer, trying to watch the ground for signs of it instead of where it appeared to be.

A tree groaned, and that was the warning Yuuri got before he went tumbling out of the tree as it shook as the beast threw itself against it.

“Yuuri!” came twin shouts.

Yuuri let his bow go as he fell, grasping at one of his glaives instead, and slashing at the air in front of him, hoping for the best.

He heard a hiss but didn’t connect with anything.

Phichit hurried over, apologized mentally, and cast a thunderwave, hearing a thud of the beast being tossed away, as he pulled Yuuri to his feet. “Sorry!”

“It’s fine.” he shook his head, ears ringing from the thunderous sound.

Makkachin growled as she ran past them and leapt on the beast, biting at it and teleporting away before it could strike back at her.

Victor tossed a dagger at the spot she’d been a moment before, but it sailed into the forest uselessly.

The fight lasted half an hour before the beast was finally beginning to stumble and slow.

Victor stabbed when he heard its footsteps, and his sword was torn from his grasp as it jumped away from him. He cursed, patting his pockets trying to find any weapon, but he’d tossed all of his daggers, he came up empty handed.

“Here.” Yuuri shoved a glaive into his hands.

“Thanks.”

What happened next was almost too fast for the eye to follow. Yuuri turned back to take another slash at the beast, and then he was on the ground with a scream. Victor and Phichit both quickly stabbed at the air above him and the beast appeared in that spot, jaw and tentacles both hooked into Yuuri as it fell aside, dead.

“Yuuri!” Phichit knelt quickly, “Open your eyes!”

There was no reaction.

“Y-Yuuri?” Victor fell to his knees as well, staring down at him.

“Yuuri!” Phichit shakily cast another healing word, with no change.

Victor’s heart refused to budge from his throat, and he struggled to breath around it. “Y-Yuuri, this isn’t funny…” he pressed a hand to his chest.

Phichit was already crying. “This-this is all my fault. He wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for me.”

“No-stop that-he’s fine! He’s not dead! He’s not allowed to be!” Victor shook his head quickly.

“He is. It’s too late.” Phichit, bent over him, sobbed.

“N-no Phichit-it’s not true!” Victor shook his head, “He’s fine, he’s just unconscious!”

“He’s dead!” Phichit snapped, clinging to him.

Victor bowed his head as he continued to feel nothing under his head. He still couldn’t breath around the lump in his throat.

Yuuri was dead. He was amazing and kind and funny and beautiful and he was dead.

The forest was silent except for his breathing and Phichit’s muffled sobs.

\-----

“Phichit-just listen to me, it’ll work.”

“I know...but we don’t have that kind of money.” he shook his head.

“We can go back to town and make it, quickly. He doesn’t deserve this.” Victor shook his head.

“I know he doesn’t!” Phichit snapped. “But there are few enough people that can revive, let alone some random person like one of us.”

“We have to try!” his voice cracked.

\-----

And so they found themselves bringing his body back towards town as they tried to remember who could revive nearby.

Neither one of them really wanted to talk, they would end up talking about it, and neither one of them wanted to be reminded of it anymore than they already were. Both lost in their own grief while Makkachin just trotted alongside them.

\-----

It was one night at camp that Phichit finally broke the silence.

“How long have you been in love with him?” Phichit asked softly.

“Since the first time his eyes lit up as he laughed.” was the just as soft reply.

Phichit nodded a little. “It'll be okay, we'll bring him back.”

“I have to believe in that.” He scribbled shapes in the dirt at his feet.

He looked up at the stars. Yuuri...of all people he didn’t deserve to die out here in the woods, due to Phichit’s poor decisions and convincing. He got Yuuri and Victor to meet but...was that worth this? Victor probably felt as empty as he did, Yuuri a gaping hole in their worlds.

Victor hadn't known him very long, but he was very free with his emotions, eager to learn more about the elves, and anything else Yuuri wanted to tell him about. He knew they would only have a short time, at least to Yuuri, to even be around him...but now he found himself on Yuuri’s side of things, outliving someone he cared about.

He felt bad for Yuuri, making friends with Phichit and himself that would normally die long before him. But Yuuri never mentioned it, though he had to think about it, what life would be like when he was alone after them. Would he find friends again? Or would he block himself off from the world?

He resisted the urge to look over at the body.

Yuuri was strong...he wouldn't like it but he would move past it eventually.

He swallowed as he realized what he was thinking. That wasn’t any fair to Yuuri.

\-----

As they neared the town Phichit had looked over at him, “Stay out here and watch over him. I’ll get to work.” he ordered before hurrying off into town before Victor could say anything in response.

So now he was here, outside the town, with Yuuri and Makkachin. Waiting for Phichit to come back with a priest or something of that sort.

He grabbed a stick and started breaking it into smaller and smaller pieces, watching the sun as it made its slow descent.

_Snap._

His head jerked up and he peered towards the noise, getting up quietly.

“It’s me.” Phichit called, pushing branches out of the way with a smile. “I found someone.” he added as he moved aside to let them in. It was a girl with red hair that stepped back once she took in Makkachin.

“She’s nice, don’t worry.” Phichit said quickly.

The girl looked at him skeptically but went over to Yuuri who was on the ground near the blink dog. She looked him over carefully and nodded, rubbing her hands together. “This should work, it’s not been that long…” she wiped her hands off on her robes with a slight face. “Ugh I hate bodies.” she shook her head slightly and closed her eyes, holding her hands just above his body with her face upturned.

Victor stopped staring as she began murmuring a prayer, glancing instead at Phichit curiously.

He smiled, “I got her attention with my music, and then asked about others of her faith that might be able to help us. She got mad at me for assuming she couldn’t and her pride at snapping she could do it made her feel compelled to.” he choked back a laugh. “She’ll probably demand something of us after though.” he glanced over at her.

Victor smiled a bit, “I don’t care so long as she can really help him.”

Phichit nodded, smiling as he watched her. He was excited to see his best friend again, it was obvious in the way he was nearly vibrating in place in eagerness.

He shared the sentiment, now that Phichit had made him say it out loud, he knew he couldn’t give up another chance. He had to confess and do his best to make Yuuri happy. He knew what life was like without Yuuri, and how he felt at not getting the courage to tell him.

He wasn’t going to regret it the rest of his life. He was going to get it out there one way or another. On Yuuri’s side they would have so little time in the face of the long span of his life, so there was no need to delay.

It felt like years passed as they waited for her to finish her prayer to bring him back, they kept trying not to stare at her but always ended up drawn back to watching. Looking for the slightest sign he was coming back to them.

\-----

“Nnn…” he groaned, head pounding with a headache.

“Yuuri!” he heard two cries and flinched back, bringing a hand to his head sluggishly.

“Don’t.” he mumbled.

“Is he okay?” he had no idea who they were talking to.

“He’s been through an ordeal, of course he’s not feeling the best.” replied a female voice he didn’t know.

“But he’s fine?”

“He needs a lot of rest and food but yes, he’ll be fine.” she laughed, “You’re both such worry warts, I don’t know how you got by without him.”

“Not very well.” Phichit laughed, strumming a soft tune.

“I can tell.”

There was an awkward silence as Yuuri continued to gather his wits and struggled to open his eyes and sit up.

“Ugh, I was going to demand stuff of you guys, but it’s clear the two of you were a wreck without him. And the money would go to better use in an inn for him.” she huffed a bit. “If you ever get a lot of treasure you bring it to me you hear? Especially amethysts.”

“We owe you one.” Victor said quickly, “We’ll make sure to do so.”

“Ugh, I’m going to wander around a bit but I’m going to lead you guys to a good inn once he’s coherent.”

“She’s a nice girl.” Phichit said a few moments later.

“Yuuri.” Victor’s voice was a lot closer and he jumped, finally managing to open his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It-...its okay.” he struggled to speak, his mouth and throat feeling so incredibly dry.

“Here.” Victor put a water skin to his lips and gently tipped it.

He took a few sips, letting it sit in his mouth to try and wet it more effectively. “What happened? The last thing I remember is fighting that...thing…” he frowned, trying to figure out what had happened.

“I…” Victor looked away, still continuing to help him take sips.

Phichit came over and helped pull him up into a sitting position. “Don’t...freak out. But...you died.”

Yuuri, half-swallowing another sip, choked, and his eyes went wide. “I-” he coughed, “I what?”

Victor nodded slightly. “It got you…”

“But you’re fine now!” Phichit said quickly. “I found this girl, and she brought you back, and everything is fine! We’re all fine, everything can just be perfectly normal!”

Yuuri didn’t really hear him over his heartbeat in his ears. He’d died? He died. He died and now he was back. He died. He left his friends to deal with a burden that was never meant to be theirs. He was supposed to live long past them, be haunted by their deaths, but that was his burden, not theirs. They weren’t supposed to outlive him. He’d failed, he was supposed to outlive them. He failed them. He was a horrible friend, dying and leaving them to deal with that.

His breathing was coming in raggedly and his eyes were shut tightly. He couldn’t believe he’d gone and done that to them. He left them. He left them in the middle of a fight.

“Wait-what happened to it?!” his head snapped up and he looked between them anxiously.

“We killed it pretty much at the same time it got you-Yuuri what’s wrong? Everything’s fine!” Phichit said, confused.

Yuuri shook his head slightly. “I’m so sorry.”

“What-Yuuri you didn’t do anything wrong!” Victor said quickly. “Please don’t apologise, we’re both just so glad we managed to bring you back.”

Phichit nodded quickly. “Please…”

Yuuri looked away, “But I left you…”

Victor shook his head, “No please, don’t think like that. We were idiots for going out there, for not even trying to make a distraction and run away. We’re all so lucky that it didn’t end with all of us dead.”

“I’m supposed to outlive both of you! You’re not supposed to worry about me!” he blurted.

“Y-Yuuri…” Phichit swallowed painfully. “Please, don’t...that’s not...we don’t care if you outlive us or not, we just enjoy being with you.”

“We didn’t like you being gone but its not your job to outlive us.” Victor added. “Actually, it made me realize a few things. Like how we were expecting you to outlive us and that’s not fair, to just take for granted that you will suffer for us after we’re gone and that we don’t have to worry about things like that.” he paused a bit and blushed, “I know now, to not take what time we do have for granted.” he swallowed nervously, “So...I…”

Phichit felt like he should move a bit away but didn’t want to disrupt this.

“I...you...I’d really love for you to marry me.” Victor said, blushing.

Yuuri’s jaw dropped and Phichit barely contained a squeal.

“I-I mean-its not like I intended to leave your side ever anyway…” Yuuri stuttered.

Victor nodded slightly, “I know, but I love you, and don’t want to waste our time together.

He smiled and blushed slightly, “I-yes.”

\-----

“So Yuuri, I was thinking.” Phichit started, grabbing his attention.

He looked away from the forest and at his friend curiously. “Thinking what?”

“I know...it went very bad. But we discovered there’s really something happening out there. This could be happening everywhere. I feel like we should...do something about it.”

Yuuri nodded slightly, “I was thinking the same actually. I don’t know what we can possibly do, we didn’t handle just one very well, but...I don’t like sitting around doing nothing. Maybe we can at least find seasoned adventurers. Dix and their group isn’t supposed to be that far away right?”

Phichit hummed in thought, “It would at least be something. I do think we can do more than just that though, but I won’t push on that. I...really don’t want you to die again.”

“You get to break the news to Victor.”

“No way! He’s your fiance!”

“That’s exactly why.” he grinned and quickly pulled himself up into a tree and rushed off out of sight, leaving Phichit to have to deal with it.

He had something that needed doing anyway. Especially if they were about to run off.

\-----

Yuuri browsed the markets, looking for something specific. He found several stalls holding the right type of things but none of them had what he was looking for. He frowned slightly in irritation but didn’t give up, traveling all across the city on a hunt.

There.

He was inside a proper shop this time, looking over all their wares. But this time, he thought he’d hit gold, literally.

“I see you have an eye for simplicity.”

Yuuri peeked up at the owner and nodded slightly. “Yeah, you could say that.” he looked back down at the plain gold bands, mirrors of each other, neither one of them smaller than the other.

He picked one up carefully, looking it over closely and slowly sliding it onto one of his fingers and smiling as he took it back off. “I’ll take both.” he grabbed at his pouch, thankful for having brought money back with him as he made his purchase.

\-----

“So Yuuri wants to find Dix’s crew?” Victor pet Makkachin as he thought. “No real harm in that…I just don’t want him hurt again…”

“I know but...we can’t pretend we don’t know somethings happening anymore.”

“I wish we could, just do our own thing.” Victor sighed, “You’ll help me take good care of him right girl?” he smiled at the dog.

Shr rumbled softly and stretched.

“There he is, hey Yuuri!” Phichit waved at him as he made his way back through the trees, on the ground this time.

Victor got up and met him halfway with a hug and a kiss. “Welcome back.”

Phichit cheered in the background.

“Glad to be back.” Yuuri smiled up at him, squeezing him tightly.

“I hear we’re off to find Dix?” Victor smiled back down at him.

He nodded slightly, leaning against him. “It’ll be a bit of a journey.”

“Let’s gear up to go then.”

\-----

Dix was the adopted tiefling child of a tiefling and aasimar, not that that made them love them any less. Their parents were now well and retired, staying out of any adventures after all they’d been through, including an accidental marriage that put the multiverse in jeopardy.

Dix had taken after their parents and gotten an adventuring group together, and they were pretty good. Going around helping all kinds of important people and kings.

So everyone heard of where they were recently, but that didn’t really mean they were still there. But of course it was their best chance to find someone that could actually do something about whatever was going on with these portal-type things.

Of course, the reality was that Dix had moved on by the time they got there, and unluckily for them nobody knew where exactly they were headed.

The best they could do was leave a letter--one that had been through a dozen drafts, or so they told themselves--ready to be sent on when they heard where Dix had ended up.

\-----

“We can’t just stay here.” Victor sighed, leaning back in the chair in their room.

“We can, none of us want to.” Phichit replied with a grin, “It does feel so boring and useless to sit around here for no reason, but what else would we do?”

Victor balanced a dagger on his finger in boredom. “No clue. When did Yuuri say he was going to be back?”

“Now.” Yuuri called, pushing open the door.

“Yuuri!” Victor sat up fast enough to nearly drop the dagger. “You’re back!”

Phichit snickered into his hand.

He nodded and moved forward, then quick as a flash, put something on his head with a grin.

Recoiling slightly, he reached up and gingerly felt at...whatever it was. It was soft, that was sure, and went all the way around his head…

While he was distracted Yuuri went over to Phichit and put a purple flower crown on him. “There you go.”

“But Yuuri, what about yourself?” Phichit pouted.

Victor glanced over at them and realized belatedly he was also wearing a flower crown.

Shrugging, he dropped himself down onto the bed. “I’m so bored you guys.” he mumbled into the poor mattress.

“We were just discussing that.”

His head lifted so his chen was now on the bed. “Oh? What did we decide.”

“Nothing.” Phichit chirped happily.

He buried his face again.

Victor laughed and went over, dragging him up. “None of that, let’s figure out what to do.”

“I’m fine with picking a direction and just going for awhile.”

Phichit hummed softly, “At least one that heads for a town.” he agreed.

“And not the direction we just came from.” Victor laughed a bit.

Yuuri looked between them a bit surprised but nodded. “Tomorrow than.”

\----

Before they left they asked the residents about any odd happenings, especially with any weird beasts. They did find out what they had fought was called a displacer beast, and that while there were tales of weird things happening, nothing like a displacer beast had appeared to cause havoc.

“So we’re just lucky then.” Yuuri rolled his eyes.

Victor choked on air, trying to all at once find words to comfort him and be angry about him making a joke about his own death, all that actually happened was he coughed for several minutes and tried to get a word out.

At the next town, that no Dix was not at and hadn’t been through, it was much the same, though they had been taking it a bit more seriously, sending mages out to try and find one to investigate, but hadn’t turned up much of anything. With the knowledge they’d faced a beast they agreed to start sending them with a bit more defence.

And so they moved on, each town being much the same. Except, now and then they came across one that had faced a displacer beast or something similar, and were frantically looking for answers, or just a form of defense.

At this rate it was entirely possible Dix at least knew something was happening.

\-----

There was one notable thing that happened in between.

Which was Makkachin’s odd behavior.

The blink dog had taken to vanishing for days at a time, carting food off with her. Victor was as baffled as they were, not sure what could’ve caused this reaction.

It wasn’t like she didn’t want to be around them anymore or something like that, no, she just vanished with some food for long periods of time. Nobody they ran into had any idea why a blink dog would do something like that, it wasn’t some unknown mating thing or something like that, she was just off...doing her own thing.

Eventually Phichit had enough of waiting around for it to become obvious what was going on, so took it upon himself to cast invisibility to follow her and find out what she’d been doing.

And find out he did, as she went to a little hollow beneath a tree and shoved the food under there. Phichit watched in utter confusion, was she planning to hibernate or something?

He got the actual answer a few minutes later when a small, furry and feathery little thing crawled out of the hole. He watched a bit in shock as she tended to what he eventually realized was a little owlbear cub. Deciding he’d seen enough he stepped out, visible again. “Makkachin?”

She spun, growling and crouching over the cub.

He put his hands up, “You could bring that back with you you know.”

Makkachin just continued to growl, hackles raised as she pressed the owlbear down into the ground further.

“Come on, none of us would harm a baby, and you clearly care about it. What happens when we wonder far away, do you plan to stay here with it or continue with us?”

She didn’t move, continuing to stare at him.

Phichit swallowed a bit and decided he was done trying to talk to her and backed away slowly, keeping his hands up, before eventually heading back to the others. Of course, he was fairly lost so it took several extra hours to get back to his worried friends. Then he could finally tell them about the baby owlbear she’d found and decided to take care of, as well as her clear unwillingness to trust him at least near it.

“She’s always been free to go as she wishes, maybe she will stay with the cub and we’ll only find her again when its grown large enough she doesn’t feel the need to care for it.” Victor sighed a little, toying with his daggers. It was of course true, she was not bound to stay with them in any form of the word, but he’d still been with her a long time, and thought they had a bond. Of course they had a bond, but well, he thought stronger than what some small helpless baby could come between.

If she was tired of only having humanoids for company and wanted a fellow...beast instead, well it wasn’t like he was going to try and force her to stay. He’d miss her but, he told himself they’d meet again. Victor had no idea how he’d know it was the same dog he knew, but, he didn’t know what else to do with himself.

\-----

It was to all their surprise when, a week and another town away, she wandered into their camp with a tiny owlbear trotting along side her.

Yuuri and Phichit pretended to not pay attention as Victor flung himself at her in a hug, staring instead at the owlbear she’d brought with her.

“It’s cute.” Yuuri said as Victor babbled on to the blink dog.

Phichit nodded in agreement. “I don’t know if it’s best for a baby to come along on this adventure, but, I am glad to have her back. We’ll just have to take care of it.” he crouched down and held out his hand towards it.

He sighed a bit and nodded, “I know, I wonder why she decided to bring it, and how she found us again.” he laughed softly.

The owlbear, for its part, just remained by its mother, unsure of this strange tall creature that was all over her, but not alarmed since she wasn’t.

“How much does an owlbear eat anyway?”

“Well, its tiny now, but when it’s bigger? More than we can hunt for it.” Yuuri yawned a bit. “We’ll stay here another night, since they’ve traveled pretty far to find us.” he added, sitting back down by the fire.

Later that night, Yuuri awoke to digging in his side, and when he blearly opened his eyes and looked around, he found the owlbear curled up against his side.

And Makkachin staring at him from the opposite side of the mostly dead fire.

He swallowed nervously and willed himself back to sleep as fast as he could, not wanting to upset either of them.

He may or may not have named it Vicchan after Victor, and said it aloud a few days later to his immense embarrassment.

\-----

Eventually, their luck had to run out.

And it did, as they nearly stumbled right through one of the portals.

Just in time for some sort of giant flying eyeball to appear.

“Holy-” Phichit threw himself behind a tree, seeing Yuuri finish climbing up into one not far away.

Victor was instead trying to be quiet and invisible.

Yuuri peered down at it, on second glance it wasn’t quite a flying eyeball. It did have a big eyeball, and it did float, but it also had a mouth full of sharp teeth and about a dozen tentacles that had eyeballs at the end of them. He shuddered slightly, keeping an arrow trained on it, wondering if they’d escaped detection.

Makkachin for her part, crouched over Vicchan, staying low and unmoving.

Phichit cast invisibility on himself and peeked out to try and figure out what exactly was going to happen.

The forest was silent as the five of them remained motionless, watching the creature’s eye stalks twisting around, looking everywhere, as its big eye squinted around as well.

And then there was a thin green light that hit the tree Phichit was behind, and the middle vanished as if it’d never been there, and the top toppled over.

A moment later, he realized he was visible.

In a blind panic he chucked a rock at it.

It only served to anger it as it glared at him, before jerking in the air as an arrow landed itself in its side.

It screamed, and a black ray shot off in the direction of the arrow, and Victor took that moment to strike, driving his sword into it.

Phichit looked around for some kind of inspiration, cursing as he came up with nothing. He paused slightly and gauged the distance between them, moving forward a bit before casting a thunderwave, sending it floating off a few feet.

Makkachin jumped into the fight, trying to bite off it’s eye stalks, falling below it and growling up at it as it tried to bite her back.

“My guess is the main eye negates magic!” Yuuri called as he fired another arrow. “That’s why you turned visible again.”

“Got it!” Phichit wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing none of them were strong in magic.

So instead Phichit kept a careful eye on his friends, ready to heal them whenever. Several of his own swings didn’t succeed in piercing it's tough skin, though he did serve to give Victor an easier time of the stabbing.

Makkachin gave up on leaping on top of it, instead just clawing at it with her sharp claws. Vicchan remained hidden somewhere, not used to any kind of fighting, and Yuuri rained arrows down.

It was to all of their surprise when Phichit gave another attempt at stabbing it, succeeding this time, and it twitched violently, then slowly drifted out of the air onto the ground.

“We did it?” Yuuri called.

Victor poked it with his sword. “Seems like it.”

“Great job!” Yuuri jumped from the tree and Phichit flung a feather fall at him.

He pouted a bit as he immediately slowed down, but nonetheless pulled both of them into a hug once he was close enough. “I would’ve been fine.”

“I just reacted.” Phichit shrugged.

Yuuri nodded and pulled away after a few seconds, eyes shining. “Victor.”

“Y-yes?” he blinked in surprise at his suddenly serious tone.

“It nearly bit off your head!” he exclaimed. “Never worry me like that again!” he shook him slightly and pulled him into another hug. “Dumb rogue.”

“It’s not like I was trying to.” he laughed a little, hugging him back.

Yuuri huffed a bit. “You’re coming with me once we get to town.”

“I...uh...okay?” he glanced at Phichit in confusion.

\-----

And so he followed him through town, Yuuri was clearly on a hunt for something but what that was neither of them had a clue of. They could only follow him, sharing confused looks.

Well sometimes, other times Victor just liked watching Yuuri and how he looked while he was looking for something. A razor sharp focus, blind to most everything else going on around them.

Phichit and himself were still covered in a fair bit of gore, not having expected the immediate dragging through town. He mimed a spell at the bard and he laughed a little and cleaned the blood and such off of them with a quick spell.

He turned back just as Yuuri came to a stop, eyes shining. “There!” he resumed dragging him off even faster.

 

And that was how Victor found himself in the middle of a church, free of blood but not dirt, staring at Yuuri in shock as he dug in his pack and came up with a triumphant “A-ha!” as he held up a small pouch and dragged him up to the altar.

He heard Phichit squealing in the background as he rushed to keep up.

Yuuri blushed slightly as they came to a stop. “Y-you did say you wanted to marry me…” he started shyly as he took his right hand and brought it up, carefully pulling the glove off before reaching into the pouch and pulling out a gold ring that he carefully slid onto his ring finger. “Its not all the pomp and speeches, but, we’re here, in a church, with a witness.” he smiled a bit and swallowed, “And I love you very much, and I think that’s all that really matters.”

Victor resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it, swallowing and taking the pouch from him and pulling out a matching ring. “Its perfect, really.” he replied softly, taking Yuuri’s hand and sliding it on his finger.

Yuuri looked up from their hands, smiling at him, there was dirt and mud and even some sap all through his silver hair, but he was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “I think I understand how you felt months ago now. I couldn’t wait any longer.” he brought Victor’s hand up and kissed it. “We don’t have time to waste not being married.”

Victor nodded slightly, “You’ve been planning this for awhile though.”

He went bright red, “Y-yeah, back when you first said it...I wanted to be ready.” he took a deep breath.

“Kiss!” Phichit called, pumping a fist in the air.

Yuuri laughed softly, glancing at him before he dragged Victor down into a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you more.” Victor replied, kissing his forehead

\-----

Shortly after, they continued on yet again. They may finally be husbands, and none of them were sure what they were expecting to be able to do, but even happily married they couldn’t sit around doing nothing.

Phichit wouldn’t stop playing whimsical songs on his flute whenever he saw them. It hadn’t quite hit the point of being annoying, just a bit embarrassing.

Victor and Yuuri truthfully, barely noticed the music, finding themselves staring at the other smiling more often than anything else. Of  course, this only prompted Phichit to try to play louder, trying to convey to the universe just how in love they were.

But besides hand holding and loving gazes, and staring at rings, and Phichit’s choice of music, nothing much changed from before. Vicchan was growing, coming into her own and trotting happily after Makkachin wherever she went.

\-----

“I think we should stop this...town hopping.” Yuuri spoke up.

Phichit blinked, looking at him across the fire. “Oh?”

“I mean, we’re not really warning anyone of anything anymore, we should try and figure something out, go somewhere specific, something else.” he huffed a bit in irritation, petting Vicchan. “We could do this for years and years, but to what point?”

“You have a point my love, but what else should we do? Go back home?”

He shook his head quickly, “No, I think we should look at a map at the next town and try to figure out if there’s any...pattern to all of this. Maybe we’ve gone in a big huge circle and we need to go to the middle of it to fix this, maybe there’s an x marking a spot, just something more than just wondering.” he threw his hands up in the air, then leaned back on them staring up at the stars.

Phichit smiled a bit, “I remember the names of all the places we’ve been through, so long as we can find a map with the towns labeled that’s absolutely doable, and might in fact tell us something.” he nodded slightly to himself.

“Sounds like a plan. I was getting tired of this too.” Victor smiled at the oblivious Yuuri. “But let’s try to stay out of trouble.”

They did not stay out of trouble.

\-----

They did the opposite, they walked right into the cave of whoops in the valley of mistakes in the forest of fear on the outskirts of the town of trouble.

Which is just a long way of saying Yuuri was now staring at a blue dragon.

A blue dragon the size of a mountain.

Which was staring back at him.

Where were the others? Hiding, not yet noticed by the huge dragon. A lot a bit terrified by dragon fear.

With nothing to lose, Yuuri just started talking, saying whatever came to mind. “You sure are a big dragon, you must be ancient, but your scales show no sign of wear and tear.” flattery, just keep the flattery up. “And such a wondrous shade of blue, brighter than the sky!” he swallowed as he tried to keep thinking up new things to say. “So sharp, everywhere! Teeth, scales, wings, claws, you are in your prime aren’t you? You’re the color of my husbands eyes.” his heart froze in terror, he hadn’t meant to say that no matter how true it was. “I would very much like to see him again if you would let me just be on my way.”

Laughter filled the cave, echoing off its walls. It had the immediate effect of Yuuri’s mouth going dry.

The laughter, and the echoing, stopped a few seconds later and the dragon bent its head down close to him. “I like you elf.” it’s tail curled in a circle behind Yuuri. “Tell me, what has brought you here?”

The tale poured from his lips rapidly, glad of something else to focus on, he left out only that his companions were here with him. If the dragon knew they were in danger either way, if it didn’t he could do his best to protect him.

The dragon gave a rumbling hum, pulling back slightly from his close scrutiny, “I thought I was feeling things happening outside my cave, but this tale you have told...is very curious…” the dragon remained in thought while Yuuri did his best not to just bolt while it was distracted. “I’ve decided.” he announced, voice booming.

“D-decided what exactly?”

“You shall come with me and we shall solve this.” as he spoke the dragon was laying down to allow him to climb up on top of him.

Yuuri’s eyes felt as wide as plates as he stared in adjunct shock.

There was a shout and then Victor was rushing over. “Stay away from him!” he shouted at the dragon.

Clearly his limit for what he was able to just watch happen, had been reached.

“Vitya-no-don’t!” his heart leapt in his throat and he tried to move between the head and his husband.

“I’m not going to harm the silly elf.” the dragon rolled his huge eyes. “Come along, I have an idea of where our problem begins.”

The cave was dead silent.

“You knew.”

“I knew the second you walked into my cave, and of course that you were not alone. Call the others out here as well, no time to waste.” as he spoke sparks flicked out of his mouth, betraying his impatience with mortals.

Yuuri swallowed nervously and shoved Victor towards the dragon. “Up you go, come on Phichit!” he tried to push Victor up it’s side while twisting to call for Phichit.

A few seconds later the dragon decided he was done waiting, and grabbed all of them and dropped them a few feet onto his back, standing up as he did so. “I believe you can be useful, don’t make me think otherwise.” was the last thing he said before heading out of the cave. Yuuri twisted and saw Makkachin, who was clearly not going to take this lying down. She was following after the dragon and he could tell by the way she was tense she was going to teleport after them.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted her close by, or far away from the danger, but it wasn’t really his choice. She made her own decisions after all. He hoped it had nothing to do with the fact Phichit was holding onto Vicchan.

He was too busy worrying to notice the dragon was preparing to take off, and his terror was great enough to hold back his scream as it finally did so.

And so they were off, on the back of a dragon, to who knows where.

Yuuri spent the whole flight hiding his face in Vicchan’s body after he snatched her from Phichit.

\-----

The combination of terror and joy at riding a dragon took all meaning of time away, it could’ve been a 10 minute flight or a 10 hour flight, but it dove towards the ground all the same.

Victor barely had time to brace himself before it landed with a jolt. Looking around he saw buildings of an abandoned town, but since the food he could see was in good shape, it was a recent exodus. He wasn’t sure if that made him feel better or worse.

“Why are we here?”

“This place reeks of strong magic, likely the source of the going ons around the continent.” his giant head swung around as he looked. “Someone must still be here, the source, but I doubt they would be defenseless.”

Phichit nodded, sliding down and off him. “We should split up and look around.”

Yuuri frowned at him, “I don’t think that’s-”

“Elf, you are archer yes? Stay on my back, arrows will not be expected from my direction.”

He paused halfway to pushing himself off of the dragon and nodded reluctantly swinging his leg back over how he’d been sitting. “So long as you look out for my friends.”

Victor was nearly tossed at the dragon’s laughter. “Have no fear little elf, we will have most of the attention of anything here.”

Yuuri huffed a bit, far from the answer he was wanting, but it was a dragon he was talking too, he didn’t have much of a leg to stand on to argue with.

“We’ll be fine.” Victor smiled before he joined Phichit on the ground. It was only a few minutes later that Makkachin appeared next to them, panting and exhausted, but there, having followed as best she could the dragon that was whisking her people away.

Victor knelt to tend to her and Phichit tried a small heal to see if that would help at all.

The dragon seemed surprised. “What an odd blink dog.” he observed before bringing his head up and looking around. “I think we’ve been noticed.” he shifted his weight and leapt into the air, spreading his wings and flapping to get into the air.

Yuuri, only truly able to see on the downwards wing beats, saw what he meant. There seemed to be tons of creatures around, moving towards them. Some of the displacer beasts, some of the eye creatures, and others besides.

“Hold tight elf.” was all the warning he got before the dragon dove back towards the creatures, taking in a deep breath.

Yuuri crouched low over his back, in absolute terror and certainty the dragon was trying to kill him.

Of course this was not true, and the dragon pulled up, and as he did he breathed and lightning shot from his mouth and arked from monster to monster, exploding and killing a great number of them before he fought his way back up into the air.

It took Yuuri several more sweeps before he had the courage to begin shooting from dragon back, while below them his friends fought the ones that were not killed by the devastating breath attack.

Fighting these hordes of demonic creatures however, was not going to solve anything. Yuuri turned his attention instead to trying to find a humanoid sorcerer of some sort, he could see far from the back of the dragon, but they could be hiding out in an old building.

The dragon seemed to be moving in some sort of pattern, from one side of the town to the other, maybe he was trying to sense the source of the magic? But Yuuri had to assume this was the closest the dragon could pinpoint, and started trying to find any sign of habitation.

\-----

On the ground on the other hand, they had an advantage, they stayed in one place, and could see and hear things coming from one direction.

So they slowly made their way in that direction, and did in fact find a sorcerer casting some kind of big spell. They weren’t in a building, but they were between a number of them, which helped to keep them hidden from above.

Phichit and Makkachin were still busy fighting so Victor started sneaking closer. The spell, whatever the specifics were, was strong, and scary, and they were very focused on it.

Victor snuck up behind the sorcerer, steeling himself to stab them as he darted forward the final couple feet, only for them to spin around and use a spell to hold him up in the air.

He gagged and grabbed at nothing around his neck, he cursed his lack of magic as he fumbled and tried to toss a dagger at them, now more concerned with getting them to drop him than anything else. The others were all busy, holding an army off or airborne and doing sweeps. He could only hope for one of the two parties to notice him before it was too late. Not that he was going to give up fighting it, but his chances were slim. Hopefully they would drop him when he fell unconscious and not go further.

His vision began to darken as he continued to claw at the air around his throat.

But not before he saw the sharp tip of an arrow jut out of his chest suddenly. The sorcerer stumbled forward, and the spell dropped him to the ground where he gasped for breath, even as the sorcerer fell to the ground dead.

“Nobody hurts my husband and gets away with it.” Yuuri was suddenly there at his side, holding onto him. “Are you okay Victor?”

“Where you come from?” he slurred, part delirious and part pained.

“I saw you held up in the air and I kinda...just killed him? I may have jumped off a dragon?” he laughed self consciously.

“Don’t….don’t do that. That bad. Dangerous.” he leaned heavily against him, closing his eyes and trying to let the world reorient itself.

“I won’t make a habit of it.”

“Yuuri! Victor! You both okay?” Phichit rushed over, already casting healing on Victor.

“We’ll live.” Yuuri smiled at him, not letting go of his husband.

\-----

Killing the sorcerer got rid of the immediate horde, and no more portals opened up, but there were some beasts that had long come through and were still running around terrorizing people. None of them were up to the task of cleaning that up, they left that task to others.

Somehow, they, three nobodies and a blink dog and a baby owl bear, had managed to save the world from whatever he’d been up to. He hadn’t lived long enough to explain, and maybe that was for the better. The dragon had thoroughly destroyed the site he’d worked in, to help prevent anyone from following in his footsteps.

He then offered them the choice of staying here and making their way back on their own, or being flown back to his cave and making their way back from there.

Logically they wanted to go back to where they knew they were, but they couldn’t make Makkachin blink across such distance again and so soon, so instead they watched as the dragon took off, circling a few times before flying off, heading for his cave once again.

It took them months to find someplace familiar, mostly just due to poor luck, but from there they decided to go back to Yuuri’s home. Phichit for one was planning on springing and elvish wedding on them, but Yuuri was ready to be done traveling for awhile, and who was Victor to deny him that?

They were so caught up in getting home to relax, passing out instantly in any inn they stayed in, that they never told more than a couple people what had happened. So to the rest of the world, it all just….stopped for some reason. Nobody could puzzle out why, some people panicked about this being the calm before the storm, but eventually those fears passed.

The trio of friends didn’t go down in history or even in tales, they weren’t the next Dix and company, they weren’t known to anyone as people that did anything of note. By the time they realized nobody knew what they’d done, there were a dozen people trying to rise to instant fame by claiming they’d saved the world. In the end people decided whoever was causing it had died in a freak accident of some kind, leaving no heros.

Many years later an old man would remember the time three men came through, a dragon took off, and then came back, right before the end of the events. He would tell this story to the children and eventually one of them would go to the dragon and get the story from him. But, the dragon had never gotten any names, so the hero's became the elf and his human husband, along with a half-elf, a blink dog, and the biggest owl bear that had ever existed.

So in the end they went unknown and uncredited, but to be honest Yuuri preferred it that way for himself at least. Tons of strangers coming up and talking to him all the time would’ve been a living nightmare. He wished he could’ve helped Phichit with the fame, but the bard was happy to earn his fans. Victor was just happy to be with Yuuri, and this way they were bothered less so he had more time with Yuuri.

**Author's Note:**

> The point of this was kinda lotr meets mother mother in the sense of small people making a big difference. But with heavy draw from dnd, I actually sat down and more or less made character sheets so I knew what they could do and didn't make stuff up, unfortunately that made Phichit not as useful as originally envisioned. Things don't always turn out the way you expect, even the ending wasn't what I had in mind but it felt right once I got there.
> 
> Tell me if you enjoyed!


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